Greece wildfire burned through 40 square miles of land
15 August 2024, 09:04
A factory worker was killed in the blaze that swept through mountainous areas north-east of Athens.
A wildfire which left one person dead and gutted scores of homes in Greece burned about 40 square miles of land north-east of Athens, according to a European Union satellite mapping agency.
The Copernicus Emergency Management Service announced the damage estimate on Wednesday, a day after the wildfire was contained in a massive effort that ended on the outskirts of the capital.
A factory worker was killed in the fire that swept through mountainous areas southward, covering an area almost twice the size of Manhattan and blanketing the Greek capital with a thick cloud of smoke.
The fire damaged 22 businesses and rendered at least 78 homes uninhabitable, with nearly half of them completely destroyed, Greek officials said.
Inspections in fire-afflicted areas will continue in the coming days.
Nine countries, including neighbour Turkey, sent assistance to Greece to boost ground crews and water-dropping planes and helicopters operating outside Athens.
The wildfire follows successive heatwaves across southern Europe and low levels of rainfall this year.
According to an updated estimate by the National Observatory of Athens, over the past eight years 174 square miles of forest have been burned in the Attica region that includes Athens, amounting to 37% of the region’s total forested area.
